Matt Lauer asked William and Harry point black why they didn't just cry buckets as they walked behind the coffin and the articulate Prince Harry said we have our public faces and our private emotions.

If we the public want to place blame, then yes, we should hold accountable the office at Downing Street or the office at Buckingham Palace for not an acknowledgement of the public's reaction but I think they might have been 1) taken by surprise by the huge people on the streets of London wailing in pain.....not to mention the reaction of the rest of the world and 2) consumed with the logistics of organizing a huge, huge funeral with all these different factions.

I understand your positions fully. However, what the Royal Family did not understand was that to the public Diana was and will always be a member of the royal family. This could have been handled so easily if only someone had advised the Queen on the first day to make a statement right from Balmoral to the effect that they all join with the public in their grief over the loss of Diana and because of the boys they feel it best to stay at Balmoral to tend to them. It was the emptiness and lack of response that got the world upset. It was the wrong decision, but the Queen is entitled to put a foot wrong once in 50 years. Let us remember that she was not only in shock herself, she had her grandsons walking around like zombies and her son screaming out on the moors; not to mention having to deal with the Spencer family and their wrath.

However, what the Royal Family did not understand was that to the public Diana was and will always be a member of the royal family.

Actually, quite the opposite. At the time of her death, she wasn't. The Royal Family understood that, it was the moronic crowds with nothing better to do that forgot it. As to always being a member of the Royal Family, one ceases to be anything when one dies - unless you're Liza Minelli in which case you marry a potato.

I always have thought that a private funeral would have been more appropriate for Diana. It would have saved her son's alot of grief. I don't know which side of the family, the Royal or Spencers that wanted this huge event.

The big public funeral event was really a PR fiasco. The celebrities on the invitation list who hardly knew Diana, perhaps not at all beyond the most marginal social acquaintance. Elton John's tearful performance. Earl Spencer's long-winded eulogy. To be sure, there were some decent things about it, but by and large, it was a PR stunt and fiasco. Although exactly for whom the PR was intended, I still can't fathom with any certainty.
Tony Blair's new government? Maybe. "People's gov't" mourns "People's Princess"?
The royal family? Doubtful. Not much to gain on their end....
The Spencer family? Perhaps.... a prelude to turning Althorp into a fantasia of sorts?
Everyone seemed wanting to associate themselves with Diana to make them look good.

I always have thought that a private funeral would have been more appropriate for Diana. It would have saved her son's alot of grief. I don't know which side of the family, the Royal or Spencers that wanted this huge event.

Neither wanted it really. The Spencers wanted a small family ceremony The Royal Family felt that way too--as Diana was no longer officially a member of the family. The reaction of the public made that an impossible idea though.

As for the Queen's action--I think she did the right thing. She put family first before duty. While it might have been comforting for the masses to have her return to London--it wouldn't have brought much comfort to her grandsons. That moment they needed to be comforted and made to feel safe. At that moment--she obviously felt it more important to be a comforting grandmother.

Truthfully, no matter what she did--it was going to sit wrong for someone--somewhere. Far better to be criticized for being a loving grandparent than a dutiful monarch, IMO.

I always find it strange that the very elements that criticize the Queen as cold and unfeeling for "putting her role as Queen before her role as mother" or whatever they say were the same ones that demanded she walk out on her grandsons and come to London to dance to their tune.

After watching 'The Queen' I think she handled it very well. I thought she was one who put duty before family over the years, so it would seem strange to suddenly put family over duty. But Diana's death was a family matter. If William & Harry needed a few days to grieve privately before facing the public again, then I applaud Granny for taking the public lashing for her delayed response. Diana showed the royal family a better way to parent, and maybe the Queen took notice.

As to always being a member of the Royal Family, one ceases to be anything when one dies - unless you're Liza Minelli in which case you marry a potato.

You forgot that dingbat Shirley MacLaine!!
I would have thought that William and Harry were rather stunned walking behind the casket. I would have been. And when the service actually started, the whole thing hit and then they let their emotions out.
I know Matt Lauer is a reporter, but boy, that's a pretty rude question IMO.

Actually, quite the opposite. At the time of her death, she wasn't. The Royal Family understood that, it was the moronic crowds with nothing better to do that forgot it. As to always being a member of the Royal Family, one ceases to be anything when one dies - unless you're Liza Minelli in which case you marry a potato.

I am fully aware that she was no longer a "member" of the Royal Family and the "moronic" crowds thought differently. It was also the "moronic" crowds that were starting to murmur about the need for a Queen who appeared uncaring and uninterested when the world was going crazy in an unprecedented outpouring of grief. You do not have to agree with this, but just look at the outcome. In the end the Queen, against her better judgment, did the best thing she could have done to assuage this feeling among the "moronic" crowds.

I have always been totally disgusted with the reactions of the people who demanded that the Queen leave her grandsons, who had just lost their mother.

It wasn't as if these people really knew Diana but the boys did.

The Queen's actions were correct IMO - help her grandsons cope with their loss.

That is what I would expect any grandmother to do. This is very much the lesson that Diana taught - caring for family and not just duty. The fact that the Queen, for the first and only time in her life, put family before duty, is the real impact of Diana on the RF for me.

I am fully aware that she was no longer a "member" of the Royal Family and the "moronic" crowds thought differently. It was also the "moronic" crowds that were starting to murmur about the need for a Queen who appeared uncaring and uninterested when the world was going crazy in an unprecedented outpouring of grief. You do not have to agree with this, but just look at the outcome. In the end the Queen, against her better judgment, did the best thing she could have done to assuage this feeling among the "moronic" crowds.

The world was not "going crazy with grief." The people who went crazy were, at best, a small percentage of the people who were very vocal.

I am sorry but I must disagree with you. In the United States everyone was talking about it. All the talk shows were dealing with nothing else and hundreds of thousands of people were calling in to every television station that dealt with the subject as well as people in every country of the world lining up to sign memorial books. It was not a small percentage of people who were "going crazy" with grief. A billion people watched the funeral and a full length motion picture was made dealing with this subject.

I am sorry but I must disagree with you. In the United States everyone was talking about it. All the talk shows were dealing with nothing else and hundreds of thousands of people were calling in to every television station that dealt with the subject as well as people in every country of the world lining up to sign memorial books. It was not a small percentage of people who were "going crazy" with grief. A billion people watched the funeral and a full length motion picture was made dealing with this subject.

"Everyone" was not talking about it. There was just a survey released where a majority of people did not feel affected, but those who did not felt like they were the minority.

Talk shows, television stations, and movies very rarely give an accurate portrayal of the world. The coverage given was perhaps the greatest tribute to Diana. The clockwork mouse she worked carefully to wind up was finally released unfettered.

A billion people, though a large amount, is still only 1/6 of the world. Even the day she died, more people (in the UK) watched Coronation Street than the news about her.

That is what I would expect any grandmother to do. This is very much the lesson that Diana taught - caring for family and not just duty. The fact that the Queen, for the first and only time in her life, put family before duty, is the real impact of Diana on the RF for me.

now THIS is what i was looking for. you couldn't have put it any better. i think diana would be proud of the way the Queen and DoE helped the boys deal with what happened.

I am sorry but I must disagree with you. In the United States everyone was talking about it. All the talk shows were dealing with nothing else and hundreds of thousands of people were calling in to every television station that dealt with the subject as well as people in every country of the world lining up to sign memorial books. It was not a small percentage of people who were "going crazy" with grief. A billion people watched the funeral and a full length motion picture was made dealing with this subject.

I agree. I stayed up PST to watch the whole thing. I just YouTubed it last night and caught what Her Majesty had said. She made an address to the population. That was unprecedented. She added everything and everyone that she could to help the family and the population deal with it. I felt she gave a fitting tribute.

I understand your positions fully. However, what the Royal Family did not understand was that to the public Diana was and will always be a member of the royal family. This could have been handled so easily if only someone had advised the Queen on the first day to make a statement right from Balmoral to the effect that they all join with the public in their grief over the loss of Diana and because of the boys they feel it best to stay at Balmoral to tend to them. It was the emptiness and lack of response that got the world upset. It was the wrong decision, but the Queen is entitled to put a foot wrong once in 50 years. Let us remember that she was not only in shock herself, she had her grandsons walking around like zombies and her son screaming out on the moors; not to mention having to deal with the Spencer family and their wrath.

No Diana was not a royal at the time of her death, she was an ex wife carrying on with a playboy. I am always amazed that some people want to put their imagined grief, before the genuine grief of the boys and people who actually knew the woman. How dare anyone dictate how someone should or should not react to a death.
There were no media people at Balmoral, there were no tell all stories coming from Scotland or statements released so where do you get your statement that 'her grandsons were walking about like zombies and her son screaming out on the moors'?

She did the right thing by looking after her grandchildren, she did the wrong thing by giving in to the bullying!

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilibet80

All the talk shows were dealing with nothing else and hundreds of thousands of people were calling in to every television station that dealt with the subject as well as people in every country of the world lining up to sign memorial books. It was not a small percentage of people who were "going crazy" with grief. A billion people watched the funeral and a full length motion picture was made dealing with this subject.

As the TV stations have all said, it was a slow news week and they had very little else to put on, they have also admitted that the public in the UK, who complained that it was overkill, were right. The figures released for people watching the funeral in the UK was just under half, (45%) I believe and a good amount of people at the funeral were either foreign visitors or people there so they could say they had been there. Some were on TV a short time ago saying it had been a bl**dy good knees up!

No Diana was not a royal at the time of her death, she was an ex wife carrying on with a playboy. I am always amazed that some people want to put their imagined grief, before the genuine grief of the boys and people who actually knew the woman. How dare anyone dictate how someone should or should not react to a death.
There were no media people at Balmoral, there were no tell all stories coming from Scotland or statements released so where do you get your statement that 'her grandsons were walking about like zombies and her son screaming out on the moors'?

She did the right thing by looking after her grandchildren, she did the wrong thing by giving in to the bullying!

As the TV stations have all said, it was a slow news week and they had very little else to put on, they have also admitted that the public in the UK, who complained that it was overkill, were right. The figures released for people watching the funeral in the UK was just under half, (45%) I believe and a good amount of people at the funeral were either foreign visitors or people there so they could say they had been there. Some were on TV a short time ago saying it had been a bl**dy good knees up!

I did not personally say that Diana was a member of the Royal Family at the time of her death. I am completely aware that she was not. However, to the public she was still seen as one of them as she was the mother of the future king.